Tapas (Sanskrit: तपस्, romanized: tapas) is a variety of austere spiritual meditation practices in Indian religions. InJainism, it meansasceticism (austerities, body mortification);[1][2] inBuddhism, it denotes spiritual practices includingmeditation andself-discipline;[3] and in the different traditions within Hinduism it means a spectrum of practices ranging from asceticism, 'inner cleansing' to self-discipline by meditation practices.[4][5][6] TheTapas practice often involves solitude and is a part of monastic practices that are believed to be a means tomoksha (liberation, salvation).[2]
In theVedas literature of Hinduism, fusion words based ontapas are widely used to expound several spiritual concepts that develop through heat or inner energy, such as meditation, any process to reach special observations and insights, the spiritual ecstasy of ayogin orTāpasa (avṛddhi derivative meaning "a practitioner of austerities, an ascetic"), even warmth of sexual intimacy.[7] In certain contexts, the term means penance, pious activity, as well as severe meditation.[8]
Tapas is based on the rootTap (तप्) meaning "to heat, to give out warmth, to shine, to burn".[9] The term evolved to also mean "to suffer, to mortify the body, undergo penance" in order to "burn away pastkarma" and liberate oneself.[9][10] The termTapas means "warmth, heat, fire".[9]
The meaning of the word evolves in ancientIndian literature. The earliest discussions oftapas, and compound words from the roottap relate to the heat necessary for biological birth.[11][12] Its conceptual origin is traced to the natural wait, motherly warmth and physical "brooding" provided by birds such as a hen upon her eggs - a process that is essential to hatching and birth. The Vedic scholars used mother nature's example to explain and extend this concept to the hatching of knowledge and spiritual rebirth.[13]
Some of the earliest reference oftapas, and compound words from the roottap is found in many ancient Hindu scriptures, including theŖig Veda (10.154.5),Shatapatha Brahmana (5.3 - 5.17), andAtharva Veda (4.34.1, 6.61.1, 11.1.26). In these texts,tapas is described as the process that led to the spiritual birth ofṛṣis - sages of spiritual insights.[11] The Atharva Veda suggests all the gods weretapas-born (tapojās), and all earthly life was created from the sun'stapas (tapasah sambabhũvur).[11][14] In the Jāiminiya-Upanisad Brāhmaņa, life perpetuates itself and creates progeny bytapas, a process that starts with sexual heat.[15][16]
Sanskrittapasyā (neuter gender), literally "produced by heat", refers to a personal endeavor of discipline, undertaken to achieve a goal. One who undertakes tapas is aTapasvin. The fire deity in Hinduism,Agni, is central to many Hindu rituals such asyajna andhoma. Agni is considered an agent of heat, of sexual energy, of incubation; Agni is considered a greattapasvin.[17][18]
The wordtapasvi refers to a male ascetic or meditator, whiletapasvinī to a female.[19][20]
Before he reached his enlightenment, the Buddha triedasceticism (self-mortification) of the type found in otherŚramaṇa religions (Jainism), and this is referred to asTapas (Tibetan:dka' thub, Chinese:kuxing, Japanese:kugyo, Korean:kohaeng).[21][22] Post-enlightenment, the Buddhist doctrines of theMiddle Way andNoble Eightfold Path did not include ascetic practices.[23]
The Buddha, in multiple Buddhist texts, such asMajjhima Nikaya andDevadaha Sutta, attributes the ascetic self-mortification styleTapas practices to Jainism (Niganthas), wherein such practices annihilate pastKarmas and stop new Karmas from being created, ones that lead to the cycle of rebirths inSaṃsāra.[10] These ancient Buddhist texts are significant in their claims of the existence of Jain Brahmins and ascetics, along with their karma doctrine and reasons for theirTapas practices in ancient times:[24]
The Blessed One [Buddha] said,
"There are, o monks, some ascetics and Brahmins who speak thus and are of such opinion: 'Whatever a particular person experiences, whether pleasant or painful, or neither pleasant nor painful, all this has its cause in what was previously done. For this reason, the elimination of previous deeds through penance [Tapas] and the non-performing of new deeds [kamma] is tantamount to non-inflow in the future. From the non flow in the future, there is destruction of deeds. From the destruction of deeds, there is destruction of pain. From the destruction of pain, there is destruction of feeling; from the destruction of feeling, all pain will become erased. Thus say, o monks, those free of bonds [Jainas].
"ONiganthas, you...
These asceticTapas practices is also confirmed by Jainism texts such asUttarajjhyayana.[10] The Buddhist scholarDharmakirti strongly criticizes the Jaina practice ofTapas as a means of liberation, while many Jainism scholars have in turn strongly criticized Dharmakirti opinion and analysis, explaining why their approach to asceticTapas is appropriate.[10]
According to Hajime Nakamura and other scholars, some scriptures of early Buddhism suggest that asceticTapas was a part of Buddhist practice in its early days, wherein body-mortification was an option for the Buddhist monk in his spiritual practice.[23][26][note 2]
In the Theravada tradition of Thailand, a monastic practice emerged in the 12th-century who didTapas as ascetic wandering and forest or crematory dwelling monks, with austere practices, and these came to be known asThudong.[28][29] These ascetic Buddhist monks are also found in Myanmar, and as in Thailand, they are known to pursue their own version of Buddhism, resisting the hierarchical institutionalizedsangha structure of monasteries in Buddhism.[30] Textual evidence suggests that asceticTapas practices were a part of the Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka by the 3rd century BCE, and this tradition continued through the medieval era in parallel tosangha style monastic tradition.[31]
In the Mahayana tradition, asceticism with esoteric and mystical meanings became an accepted practice, such as in the Tendai and Shingon schools of Japanese Buddhism.[31] These Japanese practices included penance, austerities, ablutions under a waterfall, and rituals to purify oneself.[31] Japanese records from the 12th century record stories of monks undertaking severe asceticism, while records suggest that 19th centuryNichiren Buddhist monks woke up at midnight or 2:00 AM daily, and performed ascetic water purification rituals as a part ofTapas.[31] Other practices include the extreme ascetic practices of eating only pine needles, resins, seeds and ultimately self-mummification, while alive, orSokushinbutsu (miira) in Japan.[32][33]
Elsewhere, in mainstream Buddhism, over time the meaning of the wordTapas evolved, wherein ascetic penance was forsaken, andTapas meant meditative and spiritual practices.[23]
The wordTapas appears extensively in Buddhist literature where, statesRichard Gombrich, it does not mean "asceticism or mortification".[3] The termTapas means "meditation" or "reasoned moral self discipline" or both in Buddhism.[3] According to Bailey and Mabbett, these Buddhist ideas are similar to those found in the Brahmanical (Vedic) tradition, wherein there is a great deal of overlap in the concepts ofTapas, Yoga, meditation and gnosis (knowledge), yet the termTapas is rooted in the inner "mystic heat" themes of the Indian religions.[34]
The earliest mention ofTapas is in the Vedic texts.[11] The concept ofTapas as symbolism for spiritual rebirth begins in theVedas.[35][36] Atharva Veda verse 11.5.3 compares the process of spiritual rebirth of a student in care of his or her teacher, with the gestation process during the biological birth of a baby in a mother's womb.[37][38]
Tapas is also found in theUpanishads. TheChāndogya Upaniṣad, for example, suggests that those who engage in ritualistic offerings to gods and priests will fail in their spiritual practice while those who engage in tapas and self-examination will succeed.[39] TheŚvetāśvatara Upaniṣad states that realization of self requires a search for truth andTapas (meditation).[39][40] TheMundakaUpaniṣad also emphasizes the importance ofTapas as a means to attain spiritual knowledge and realization:
By Truth can this Self be grasped,
by Tapas, by Right Knowledge,
and by a perpetually chaste life.
Meditation and achievement of lucid knowledge is declared essential to self-realization in ancient scriptures. Texts byAdi Sankara suggestsTapas is important, but not sufficient for spiritual practice. Later Hindu scholars introduce a discussion of ‘false ascetic’, as one who go through the mechanics of tapas, without meditating on the nature ofBrahman.[39] Tapas is an element of spiritual path, state Indian texts.[39][40] The concept is extensively mentioned in theVedas,[42] and the Upanishads.[43]
According to Walter Kaelber,[11] and others,[15][44][45] in certain translations of ancient Sanskrit documentsTapas is interpreted as austerities and asceticism; however, this is frequently inadequate because it fails to reflect the context implied, which is of sexual heat or warmth that incubates the birth of life. The idea of linking austerity, exertion, fatigue and self-renunciation to the ancient idea of heat, brooding and inner devotion, comes from the observed labor every mother puts in caring for its embryo and delivering her baby, regardless of the life form.[46] The concept and reference to 'egg hatching' is replaced in Sanskrit texts written in later centuries, with simply 'brooding' or 'incubation'.[47][48]
In ancient literature of Hinduism dedicated to love, desire, lust, seduction and sex, the root of the wordTapas is commonly used. For example, in Atharva Veda, amantra recommended for a woman who wishes to win or compel a man's love is, 'Love's consuming longing, this passion this yearning, which the gods have poured, into the waters of life, I kindle for thee (tam te tapāmi), by the law of Varuna.'[49] Desire (kāma) is homologized with the concept ofTapas, to explain the feelings and inner energy that leads to sexual intercourse.[50][51] Agnicayana, Satapatha Brahmana and other ancient texts similarly use the root of the wordTapas to symbolize emotions, biological stages and a mother's effort from conception to the birth of a baby.[52]
Both meanings ofTapas are found in various Hindu texts. In some ancient texts,Tapas has the sense of ascetic mortification in a sense similar to other Indian religions,[53] while in theBhagavad Gita and theYoga school of Hinduism, the term means self-training and virtuous living in a sense similar to Buddhism.[54] In thePuranas and the texts of the goddess tradition of Hinduism, the term is equivalent to a devotion with intense self-discipline, believed to yield special inner powers.[55][56] In contemporary usage, any practice that includes hardship and requires perseverance – such as fasting duringVrata – is calledTapas.[57]
Patañjali, in hisYoga Sūtra, listsTāpas as one of theNiyamas (virtuous practices),[58][59] and describes it in several sections such as 2.32, 2.43 and 4.1.[6] The term includes self-discipline, meditation, simple and austere living or any means of inner self-purification.[46][60][61]Tapas in thePatanjali text and other Hindu texts on Yoga, states Benjamin Smith, is that which is "a means for perfection of the body and the organs through the lessening of impurities" and a foundation for ayogi's pursuit of perfection.[6]Yama, niyama, asana andpranayama fromAshtanga yoga comes under tapas.[62]
Tapas in the Hindu traditions is part of a stage of life, calledbrahmacharya.[63] The Vedic literature suggestsdiksa (incubation of a student in a field of knowledge) requirestapas, andtapas is enabled by the state of brahmacharya. This state sometimes includestapas such asvrata (fasting, sacrifice of food),sram (philanthropic social work, sacrifice of income), silence (sacrifice of speech), andasceticism (bare minimum living, sacrifice of comfort).[63] Oldenberg notes that Brahmana scripture suggests that the Brahmachari should carry tapas to the very tip of his existence, which includes not cutting his hair, nail and beard.[64] Thus, during this process of spiritual rebirth anddiksa, thetapas observed by a Brahmachari may include silence, fasting, seclusion, chastity, as well other activities. The goal oftapas is to help focus the Brahmachari on meditation, observation of reality, reflection and spiritual rebirth.[63] Brahmacharya andtapasya are interrelated, with the student life expected to be simple and austere, dedicated to the learning.[65][66]
Tapas is a central concept in Jainism.[67] It refers to the spiritual practice of body mortification, penance, and austerities, in order to burn away past karma and stop producing new karma, thereby reachingsiddha (liberating oneself).[10] AsceticTapas among Jaina monks, both internal and external, is believed to be essential for spiritual growth andkevalya (moksha, liberation).[68][69] The details of theTapas practices vary between the different traditions within Jainism.[68]
The Jain textSarvarthasiddhi, a commentary by Pujyapada, claims that the HinduSamkhya school emphasizes "knowledge only, no practices", while theVaisheshikas emphasize "practices only, no knowledge" as part ofTapas and the means of reaching moksha.[69] Another Jain textTattvartha Sutra, byUmaswati, in chapter 9, asserts thatTapas includes several kinds of meditation.[69][70]
TheTapas in Jainism include internal practices and external austerities.[71][72] ExternalTapas include fasting, tolerating hardships inflicted by other people or animals, tolerating all discomfort from weather by nakedness or near nakedness and the lack of any possessions, lack of shelter, walking and wandering alone without fearing anything and without hurting anyone.[71] The internalTapas include words and inner thoughts (intent) that resonate with the externalTapas (action).[71] The list of internal and external austerities in Jainism vary with the text and tradition, withTattvartha Sutra,Uttaradhyayana Sutra andBhagavati Sutra stating:[72][70]
InJainism,Tapas implies a control on desires,[73] and is a form a self purification.[68]Mahavira, the 24thTirthankara undertook asceticTapas for twelve years, after which he attainedKevala Jnana (liberating supreme knowledge).[74][75]
Ajivikas was another ancient Indian religion which survived through about 13th-century CE, but became extinct thereafter, in whichTapas was a central concept as a means of salvation.[76] According to Arthur Basham, the Ajivikas believed in the most rigorous ascetic practices in public.[77] They believed in not harming anything and not being a cause of hurt to any living creature or substance, so they ate refuse, waste products, went deep into forests, mountains or isolated caves to live their austere life.[77]
One of the Buddhist canonical texts,Nanguttha Jataka, claims that the Ajivikas perform severe ascetic practices as part of theirTapas, including sleeping on a bed of thorns and other forms of self-mortification.[78] The Jainism textSthananga Sutra claims that the Ajivikas performed severe penances and self-mortification as part of theirTapas practice.[79] A mention of the ascetic practices of Ajivikas is found in Chinese and Japanese Buddhist literature, where they are spelled asAshibikas.[79]
Ajivikas were aŚramaṇa religion, just like Buddhism and Jainism, and these competed with each other.[80] Most of the Ajivika texts have not survived. TheTapas practices of Ajivikas, as well as other information about them is primarily from the Buddhist and Jain texts; scholars question whether the description of Ajivikas has been fairly and completely summarized in these, or are these polemic misrepresentations.[81][82][83]
Modern practitioners pursueTapas - meditation and study of religion inashrams acrossIndia.[84]
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